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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “upside down”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “upside down”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 19. 2 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

PDF Smart Viewer for Elementor shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All-in-one Like Widget 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #1 2 Boei – AI Chatbot, Live Chat & 50+ Channels 900+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Popup Like box – Page Plugin 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 AM LottiePlayer 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Coming Soon Viral Page by Growtheme 20+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 S StyloText Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Zing! — · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 NOTALabs Affiliate Article Kit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Reely 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Apex SEO Intelligence — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Guard Forge – Security, Login Protection, 2FA & Audit Log — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13 AstroWay – Astrology, Birth Chart & Horoscope Widgets 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Crates Product Image Processor for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 WAQTUNA Prayer Times — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 WP Pranks 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 U Upside Down WordPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 B BrainsMatch — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 PDF Smart Viewer for Elementor 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.